"In general, the feeling is that it more than adds to our case that the president broke the law and that he violated the Constitution,” she said. “They certainly look to me like they're impeachable offenses."

Just a week ago, the liberal effort to convince Democratic leaders to impeach Trump appeared to be a long shot. The White House was stonewalling the Democrats’ investigations; the calendar was quickly shrinking and the 2020 elections inching closer; and only 130 lawmakers had endorsed an inquiry — well below the 218 needed to pass articles of impeachment on the House floor.

Still, Pelosi is sounding a warning to those lawmakers who want to impeach Trump yesterday: Not so fast. While the Speaker on Tuesday took the momentous step of endorsing a “formal impeachment inquiry," she’s also treading cautiously as the Intelligence Committee seeks additional information and testimony related to the Ukraine episode.

"There are some in our caucus who think, 'Let's just have an impeachment.' No, we have to have an inquiry to further establish the facts," Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol on Thursday. "There is no rush to judgment, and in some ways we are a jury, open to what might be exculpatory or not."

Butterfield endorsed the idea of continuing the Intelligence Committee investigation, not least as a tool for educating voters to the details of the Ukraine affair. But he also warned against dragging out the process, saying he’s hoping Democrats can pass articles within six weeks.

“Certainly, there always needs to be more investigation, but based on what we have right now, I think there's a prima facie case for removal from office,” Butterfield said. “Not just impeachment, but removal."

“This is clear and compelling,” he added.

Meanwhile, many progressive activists and lawmakers say they’ve seen all they need to see; they want to move straight to articles of impeachment now rather than wait for a weeks- or months-long investigation they fear could drag into 2020 because of Trump stonewalling.

At a MoveOn impeachment rally outside the Capitol, just hours after the public release of the complaint on Thursday, Public Citizen President Robert Weissman led activists in a call and response.

“The president of the United States abused the power of his office, and he abused that power to ask a foreign president to investigate and come up with information, dirt, that would hurt his political opponent and would interfere with the 2020 election,” said Jayapal, a Judiciary Committee member. “And that is an absolute abuse of power. It is, in my mind, a high crime and misdemeanor.”